Tackling the almajiri syndrome effectively

Children began to memorise the Holy Qur’an from the moment they are able to speak, first at home and later in the neighbourhood madrassa or in Tsangaya schools in far off places under the tutelage of an itinerant teacher. It is this form of education that is referred to as almajirci (immigrant education). This old […]

Children began to memorise the Holy Qur’an from the moment they are able to speak, first at home and later in the neighbourhood madrassa or in Tsangaya schools in far off places under the tutelage of an itinerant teacher. It is this form of education that is referred to as almajirci (immigrant education). This old practice of young male children being sent to learn the Qur’an in faraway places without parental care and guidance has its many negative consequences.
However, in the early years of its intro-duction, up until the years of colonization, when it was about the only way to educate the society, some of the negative aspects of the system that we are witnessing today were not prevalent. In those days the feeding of those children rested with the society as a religious duty. It was indeed a ‘fard kifaya’, an obligation which must be discharged, even if by a few on behalf of the others, or otherwise, the whole society is held accountable by God for criminal negligence. However, the individualistic society of the modern world, with its permissiveness, has endangered these poor children and rendered them vulnerable to all sorts of abuse. Moreover, the graduates of these tsangaya schools are not employable except, perhaps, on the farms or at the homes and business premises of the elites, where they end up as watchmen.
As the country is grappling with poor education indices, the North is still by far behind the South on these indicators, partly due to the preponderance of almajiri system of education. But with all these obvious negative effects of the system on the society, why are the affected states dragging their feet in the search for a lasting solution? We often hear about some states and even the federal government establishing one form of Tsangaya School or the other. But can these few schools cater for the over 10 million almajiri children roaming about our streets? Obviously, there is no evidence to suggest that. It believe only through the total banning of the system and the enforcement of compliance can it be eliminated once and for all.
 Part of the ‘burden’ of feeding and clothing the school children should be borne by the state and local governments, by the provision of free breakfast and lunch, as well as school uniforms. Governor Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso of Kano State has introduced free lunch and uniform programme in primary schools; what I’m not so sure is whether it is targeted at the right group, namely the children of the poverty-stricken rural masses, and how effective it has been. Moreover, for this policy to achieve the desired result, it must be uniformly applied across all the affected states, since almajirci is a cross-border activity. To spend money on this programme is much more beneficial to the society than to spend it on frivolous projects such as sponsoring pilgrimages, building mosques or paying political office-holders outrageous allowances.
 
Abdurrazaq Nakore, FNSE, Rural Electrifi-cation Board, Dutse.